The Present Disclosure relates, generally, to an assisting tool for a connector, and, more particularly, to an assisting tool which is able to mount a mounting member in a first housing of a first connector mated with a second connector, to release the first connector from the second connector using a simple operation, and to improve the operability and expand the range of uses for small, low-profile connectors without damaging or destroying the first and second connectors during the release operation.
The use of an assisting tool, such as a lever, is typical for removing a connector, mated with a substrate-side connector mounted on the surface of a substrate, such as a circuit board, from the substrate-side connector. One example is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-321217, the content of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
FIG. 14 shows a perspective view of a conventional assisting tool used to remove a connector. In FIG. 14, 901 is a substrate-side connector, which is a surface-mounted connector mounted on the surface of a substrate 991 such as a circuit board. 801 is a device-side connector mated with the substrate-side connector 901, which is accommodated inside a casing 811 also accommodating, for example, an optical communication device. Also, 851 is a multi-core tape-like optical fiber connected to one end of the casing 811.
A release lever 871 is rotatably connected to the other end of the casing 811. A piston 874 is slidably mounted on the other end of the casing 811 in the vertical direction. When the release lever 871 is rotated in the direction of the arrow, the hammer portion 873 mounted on the drive shaft end of the lever body 872 pushes down on the plate body 874b of the piston 874 towards the upper face of the tiered block 875 in the casing 811. The sliding body 874a of the piston 874 is lowered, and the lower face of the sliding body 874a presses down on the surface of the substrate 991. The casing 811 is lifted up by the substrate 991, and the device-side connector 801 accommodated inside the casing 811 is removed from the substrate-side connector 901.
However, because the assisting tool of the prior art is attached to the large casing 811 accommodating the device-side connector 801, the tool is large. As a result, it can be difficult to apply to a small, low-profile connector, such as a connector used to connect a substrate to a cable. As electronic devices have become smaller and lower in profile, the connectors mounted inside the cases of these electronic devices have also become smaller and lower in profile. Also, as the mounting density of components mounted on the surface of a substrate has increased, almost no space remains around a connector mounted on the surface of a substrate. As a result, these connectors can no longer be practicably applied to a large member such as a casing 811. Further, it is difficult to remove a mated connector from a connector mounted on the surface of a substrate in a small electronic device because the connector itself is small and the space is narrow. Therefore, the use of an assisting tool has been considered for removing connectors. Here, the device-side connector 801 is already housed in the casing 811. It is assumed that this tool is not applied to a device-side connector 801 after the fact.